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When a super moon is really super

Tomorrow at 3:45 am you can see the latest ‘super moon’, although it rises here at 4:38 pm this afternoon and will be full.

I had never heard the term, ‘Super Moon’, until a few years ago, maybe that’s because it comes from astrology. A super moon appears only 10-14% larger than your usual full moon and since it will be about 222,000 miles away, that’s not a near miss. But they say the moon might be about 30% brighter, that’s the difference.

I remember one evening my wife and I were coming back from town and as we turned onto the Marginal Way, that paved path along the ocean, we saw the moon rising out of the sea. Enormous and massive, that moon looked twice as close to earth and about to smack us all. I have no idea if that was a ‘super moon’ or not, but that doesn’t matter. It looked super to us.

Of course the moon is powerful, pulling the ocean waters usually twice a day to create high tides and low, though tales of the moon making people a little crazy have never been proven.

Before electric lights, the moon helped night travelers find their way; farmers plant, hay and harvest their crops, and add cheer to an otherwise dark world. Super moon or just plain old full moon, it didn’t matter, its powerful light was welcome.

Once we watched the full moon rise from the sea on a small hilltop. Just below us another couple sat watching the moon rise too. Then he stood up, kneeled, held her hand, and proposed. The brightness that night and for many following nights was far brighter than any super moon for that couple. That may not have been an actual super moon, but I am sure it was for the two of them.

May all our moons be ‘super moons’ as it was for those two people; those are the true ‘super moons.’